Why I'm Making My Own Cat Food

Poor Maeve became very, very sick this summer. She developed urinary crystals, a painful and potentially life-threatening condition. I dealt with that. Next, she showed symptoms of a thyroid condition. Veterinary treatment for hyperthyroidism in cats ranges from daily medication to radioactive iodine therapy. Neither is a good option in a cat that has started having violent allergic reactions. There was even a question of her being diabetic.

This little gal is only 4 yrs. old and her internal organs were failing, one after another. Treatments would run in the thousands of dollars and the prognosis still wasn't good. The first clue to what was making her so ill was a simple attack of hives. She was covered in them and clawed at them until she was raw, bleeding and almost bald. I took her outside with me to let the sun give her some relief. She seemed to feel much better and the hives began to heal over after a couple of days in the yard. Then, I discovered she had picked up a bad case of fleas outside. A single drop of the flea treatment you put between the shoulder blades caused such a violent reaction that she nearly choked to death.

That's when I decided to take matters into my own hands and go the holistic route. Maeve is a true feral cat, meaning she comes from multigenerational cats that have lived without human contact. She was undersized and only weighed in at 3 lbs. at her heaviest. I know all this information will make this a long post but I think important to any decision you make in changing what you feed your cats. Ferals survive on eating rodents and birds. The feline digestive system naturally breaks down the raw food and takes the nutrients, moisture and protein it needs and regurgitates the rest. That's the nasty, gooey thing your cat throws up if it eats the prey it catches. It's a perfectly normal process. My cats stay indoors and don't have access to wild food.

I had been feeding Maeve, and two younger ferals I've taken in, with a diet of canned cat food, a small amount of dry cat food and the odd serving of canned fish. It was the equivalent of Europeans introducing their diet to the North American Inuit people. Their systems couldn't handle it and neither can my feral cats. The dry cat food had grain in it. Removing the dry food immediately stopped Maeve's skin condition. Over the next few weeks, her urinary tract problems improved as well.

The food I found worked the best for her was Freshpet Select, a semi-moist food. Even grain free kibble had an immediate bad effect on her. Maeve is tiny and I'm treating her like the canary in the mineshaft. If a food isn't good for her, it most likely will start to compromise the health of the other two cats in time.
The problem I had with Freshpet Select, is that it is only available at one store in my area and they didn't always have it in stock. It was also a little pricey at $1/day per cat. It did have all species specific ingredients, but they weren't organic and I didn't know if there were chemicals that would build up in her system and cause new problems. I've done a lot of research on cat food now. Raw food is probably the best for felines, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

After that long preamble, I'll get to the cat food I made for round one.

I had 2lbs. of organic, chicken stock bones. I put them in a large pot, covered them in water and brought it to a boil. I reduced the heat to a simmer and cooked it just as you would making soup stock, for about six hours. ~

I'm going to add 2 hard boiled eggs, 2 organic carrots, 1/2 cup chopped parsley, a can of kippers and 2 Tbs. of coconut oil to the finished chicken. ~

Kippers, sardines or canned salmon have soft bones that the cats need for calcium. The carrots and parsley are great sources of vitamins and minerals. The eggs provide protein. I could crush the shells and add them to the food for extra calcium but didn't want to have anything the cats might find odd in this new food while I was switching them over.

I cut the carrots into a small dice and chopped the parsley ready to parboil it when the chicken was done. ~

I put a colander in a large bowl and poured the chicken pot into it. This separated the chicken and bones from the broth. The broth is reserved. While it was cooling, I used 2 cups of the broth to boil the carrots and parsley for 5 mins. That's just to soften the carrots and get the chicken flavour through them. I don't want the cats eating around veggies and missing out of those nutrients.

Being careful to remove all bones, I combined the chicken, carrots, parsley, chopped eggs, kippers and coconut oil with two cups of the chicken broth.

This is what it looked like done. ~

It may not look pretty, but you could feed this to your kids. Seriously, there's nothing in here but good food.

This recipe gave me 2 lbs. of pet food. I'm not sure how to cost it out for you. The eggs come from my own chickens, the soup stock bones were free with an organic meat order, the carrots might have cost a quarter each and the parsley is from my garden. So far, I've spent $1.09 on the can of kippers and a few cents on the coconut oil. In the future, I'll introduce other meats, probably leftovers, and use the remaining chicken broth for flavour and nutrients.

Next weeks food and the extra broth is all ready for the freezer! By saving the broth, I can make another batch by simply cooking some chicken and veggies and adding the other ingredients. It isn't a six-hour process every time. ~

In case you would like to give this a try with your cats, I've done a printable of the recipe for easy printing or pinning. ~

Did Maeve, Michaela and Clara Jane like it? Never in my life have I heard cats purr that loud all the way through their dinner! I couldn't even get them to lift their heads for a picture. ~

Not one speck of food was left in the bowls!

Cats Of All Sizes

In the world of cat fights the biggest one usually wins.

When the weather looks like this, a ray of sunshine is worth fighting for. ~

Clara Jane is used to  sharing the scratching post with her sister Michaela but they have grown a little large for it. ~

That wasn't working so they tried a different arrangement. ~

At 9 lbs., Clara is the larger girl, so she just pushes Michaela off. ~

That wakes the old guy up and makes him think that spot would be nice. ~

Check out how high the snow has come up the patio doors!  And, pay no attention to the scrunched up mat. The girls have the idea that it must be put back that way the minute I straighten it and I've just given up on it.

Utah pushes Clara Jane off and since he is male, the senior lion in the pride and the biggest, they don't even try to take it back. ~

Poor Maeve, at three years old and only weighing in at 3 lbs., isn't even in the running for a spot in the sun. ~

She's had that look on her face since the day I brought the feral kittens home.  It basically ruined her life.

I'd have all my cats be pygmies if I could.  The advantages to teeny weeny cats are many.  You never wake up in the night with a terrible pressure on your chest that makes you think you must be having a heart attack. I hardly feel her sleeping on me.  They don't eat much and they have very dainty, little poops.

But, the cat that has been hanging around my yard would have no trouble staking it's claim to the best sleeping spot. ~

What's the big deal?  Check out the size of the print beside my size 5 boot! ~

That, my friends, is a cougar print on my front porch and that's one cat that's not coming inside!

Animals Are Driving Me Crazy!

I think I have a bad case of cabin fever.  The snow keeps falling, the ice keeps building and the temperatures are so low it's misery to be outside! ~

Even with a heat lamp on in the coop, I have to make many trips to it each day, because their water keeps freezing.  The girls aren't doing anything wrong but this is the time of year when chicken keeping really isn't fun. ~

There isn't much left out there for wildlife to forage and rabbits are decimating my shrubs.  I wrapped tarps around them.  That didn't work, so I put fencing up.  The only tracks are rabbit but this one must be the size of the Easter Bunny!  The branches are sheared off 3' high! ~

And while I'm out there freezing my backside off, what is going on in the house? ~

It can't possibly have been The Barbarians.  They are sweetly sleeping in another room. ~

Don't try to pretend you were keeping the old cat warm, Michaela! ~

As determined as I am to shed a few pounds, it was in the animal kingdom's best interest that I resort to this. ~

I feel better and no animals were injured in the making of this post!

Raising Feral Kittens

Do you remember those cute kittens I brought home to foster in the summer?  One was adopted out and I kept the two girls.  I love cats but it's sure been a wild ride with these two!

Michaela has lovely, silky fur. ~

Clara Jane is a champion purrer, full of fun and wants to do whatever I'm doing. ~

They are adorable and they are very, very wild!  Their mother was a true feral cat.  If you consider adopting the offspring of a feral mother, make sure you know the difference between feral and stray cats.  Stray cats have had significant contact with humans and, even if they are skittish and frightened, can be re tamed and become great house pets.  Feral cats and their offspring have lived without human contact and are not comfortable interacting with people. 

I already had Maeve, offspring of a city feral and knew it would be tough to get these girls behaving in a civilised manner.  ~

I hope you are paying close attention to these pics because there will be a test at the end and you'll have to be able to tell these black cats apart.  Just kidding!  I can't tell them apart most of the time and never know which name to yell when they are into something they shouldn't be.

When I took the girls in to be spayed, I was talking to the vet about how different city ferals are to barn ferals.  I never have had problems taking in barn kittens no matter how wild the mother was.  He joked that barn cats are so inbred they aren't all that bright and that may be why the city cats are more difficult.

All three city girls are certainly clever.  Maeve mimics whatever she sees me do. She can pop down the toaster, wipes her paw over the dishes in the dishwater and works very hard at turning on taps.  Thank heavens she hasn't quite mastered that one yet!  She made my life hell for the first year.  There was nothing she didn't get into and lose or break.

With the new girls, for every sweet moment like this, ~

There's the roughhousing moment that sends the Internet receiver crashing to the floor.  Yes, a Rogers hub can be dropped repeatedly and still work! ~

It seems Clara Jane and Michaela were born hungry and they can't seem to get enough to eat.  They'll steal from each other, the other cats and any human food they can possibly get into!  They'll take it off your plate if you don't keep your eye on them.  For the first few months I had to lock them in another room just to eat a meal in peace!

They've broken more glass and china than you could imagine.  That favourite jam jar I showed you in the spring is just a distant memory. ~

They didn't seem to think the buttons should be on my burlap lamp shade.  No problem!  Just throw yourselves at it until you have the whole thing in tatters girls. ~

Clara Jane is a devotee of Buddha, it appears, and keeps those Tibetan bells ringing non stop. ~

Any marks on wall paint must be removed, in their minds.  I have no idea why they were pulling the drywall off where that arrow is pointing. ~

In the bathroom I assume they were trying to unearth that drywall screw. ~

I don't want you to think that I haven't made any progress with them.  They've learned, NO, QUIT IT, YOU'RE GONNA GET IT and LEAVE IT.  They've also learned to run like hell when they see me coming and not go back at whatever it is until I leave the room again. sigh

All three tried, but it was Clara Jane that managed to claw a big enough hole in that screen to squeeze out and chase the chickens around the yard. I'm sure she holds that as 'the most fun ever' in her mind! ~

Cat toys are a big help.  Nothing beats bringing a 12' ladder in the house for good times! ~

While I'm painting the family room white, they are wearing quite a bit of paint.  It's on their tails, paws and noses. They don't mind as long as they get to join in the fun.

I will try very hard to forgive them for knocking a solid lead, 100 yr. old cow statue, that I paid an absolute fortune for because it had it's original paint, into the can of white paint. ~

I'll forgive them because they trust me and curl up on my lap to sleep.  I'll forgive them because they come tearing to the door to greet me when I come home. I'll forgive them because the vet cautioned me that Michaela isn't very healthy and maybe I shouldn't put money into spaying her.  He knows all my pets are rescues and I have to keep veterinary costs down as much as possible, or I can't take them in. I couldn't adopt her out when I knew her adult teeth had never come in at the back and she may have feline herpes. So we've worked away at it and she gets healthier every day.

If you haven't had a lot of experience with cats, don't have at least a couple of hours a day to work with them or are terribly attached to your crockery and walls, think twice before you take in a feral kitten, especially if it wasn't captured in the first 6 - 12 weeks of life.  All of mine were about twelve weeks old when I got them and that is pushing it, in my opinion.  A better option for you may be an SPCA kitten from a socialised mother.  There are endless numbers of those waiting for a loving home.

It's worth all of this trouble to me when I think of the life they would have had on the streets and see moments like this. ~

If only Clara Jane would learn to sit like a lady! ~

I'll keep working on that one!

A Car Full Of What?

I went out antiquing with my sister and BIL on the weekend.  The scenic route took us very near Farm Girl's place and I had a little pick up to do there.  She was giving me two of her rescue chickens and I had offered to foster a litter of kittens until we could find good homes for them.

Who am I kidding? ~

Okay, so I knew I'd keep one. ~

The chickens rode along nicely in a cat cage.  Well, we had to roll the windows down after a couple of poops in there. ~

The kittens were not happy in their cage and little, tragic meows broke my heart.  My BIL said, "I'm surprised you girls haven't got them out on your laps yet."  He still calls us girls.  He he.  I was already out of my seatbelt and opening the cage when he said it.

This little fellow was more than happy to curl up with his aunty. ~

The pair of girls rode with me.  That is, until they discovered the vintage doll house I bought. "Let's get in here!  Let's play fight in here! ~

Checking out their new digs.  Whoa, running up and down this chaise is fun! ~

I want up there, too! ~

Play, play, play and then, conk out cold. ~

Because I'm great at making animals stay in crates, they wound up sleeping in my bed.  They bit my feet, scratched the heck out of my legs and came right back up when I put them on the floor.  By night three, I had the night time 'free for all' down to the occasional reprimand.

And, Utah?  I'm pretty sure he swore when he saw what I'd brought home.  They raced toward him and he froze them in their tracks with a Grandpa glare.  He chooses to spend his days on the patio now. ~

What, no pictures of fun loving Maeve?  When she's not hissing at the kittens, she's hiding or making me feel bad with her hunger strike.

This little guy was already spoken for and has gone on to his new home. ~

As for the girls, well, I'll find homes for them just as soon as I'm done feeding my unicorn.

He's A Good Old Cat!

City Girl brought her husband and Baby with her for our Mother's Day visit this weekend.

Baby's eyes lit up when she saw old Utah taking his afternoon catnap. ~

Utah belonged to my daughter, City Girl, until she became engaged to marry someone allergic to pet hair. So, the old cat moved to the country where he has happily resided for the past six years.  We know he is over 20 yrs. old and he pretty much gets to do whatever he wants in his golden years.

One of the nicest things about this old boy is his patience with children.  Baby is fascinated with animals and City Girl doesn't want her to be nervous around them just because they can't have any in their home.

Utah lets Baby explore his tail. ~

They have a little talk to get to know each other better. ~

A little pat on the head after a talk about treating old cats gently. ~

Look each other over very carefully. ~

Mommy says he likes a tummy rub.  Very gingerly give it a try. ~

We're cool! ~

I love your kitty Mommy! ~

Next stop was the chicken coop where those cute, silver party shoes got covered in poop.  Should have stuck to the cat!